Your medications could be killing you if you're not careful about what drugs you're taking together, one doctor is warning.
Many New Zealanders are taking a cocktail of drugs to ensure they’re living longer, but aren’t sure of what combination of medicines they’re taking together.
This is often referred to as polypharmacy, a concurrent of multiple medications prescribed to a patient.
Speaking to TVNZ1’s Breakfast, resident doctor John Cameron says it’s important for people to talk through the combination of medications they’re taking with their doctor.
“As we mature, we start on some long-term medicines and then something else happens and you get another one and another one and another one," he says.
“There can be appropriate polypharmacy, if you have diabetes there are some medicines that we want you on to prevent long-term problems and to control your disease.”
He says sometimes patients end up taking more medication than needed.
“There are other ones that just somehow latch onto us…that we never really stop taking it and then we throw another medicine on.
“There’s a thing called a triple-whammy which is an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, a diuretic and an anti inflammatory and something like 22,000 New Zealanders were given that last year, and it kills your kidneys.”
He said 35 per cent of people over the age of 65 in this country are taking five or more medicines and four per cent are taking 11 medications a day over the age of 85.
"This medication's probably killing them," he says.
Mr Cameron emphasises it's important that you don't stop taking your medicines, but to talk to your doctor about what it is doing for you.
"What you should be doing with your doctor or pharmacist is going and talking with them and saying these are my medicines, what are they, what are they doing for me and which ones do I really need to be taking."
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